“Every order.”
“Yes,” she breathed, her nose filled with Netto’s mechanical heat and the saltwater that dripped down her pod. Her back was wet as her shirt soaked it up.
“Every. One.”
He leaned over her and pressed down, his lips hovering above hers. “Yes, yes.” It became hard to inhale just as Netto backed up and released her. The hatch slid open. Rylie shook herself and brought her thoughts back to the present and climbed in. Her heart and mind were in turmoil.
“Follow us and stay close,” Netto ordered. The door closed and he pushed her vessel back into the water. Rylie took over as she submerged and he shifted outside her enclosure, his gaze remained on her.
“I promise,” she voiced through the barrier, hoping he could read her lips.
Chapter Eighteen
***
They made their waythrough the shallows. Rylie followed close behind the Cyborgs. The algae thickened into sludge and her only hope of keeping up was the light from their eyes.
Everything was green and red, chunky and wet; it plastered itself against the watershield and distorted her view. She felt unclean just being in its proximity. The factory they were headed for was only several miles up the shore but it took them forever to approach it and the closer they got, the thicker the water became.
She could feel the pollution seeping into her very being, even through the walls of her pod. Rylie shuddered, feeling unclean.
Rylie caught a glimpse of Netto’s tail. Her distorted view made him look like another one of the serpents that occasionally swam by. She bit back her fear each time one brushed against her pod.I’m safe.
Safe.She repeated it like a prayer as she followed the Cyborg’s light.
They turned toward the shore and her pod rose above the waves. The muck slid down the windows of her vessel as the late afternoon light appeared.
Rylie chewed on the inside of her cheek at the factory emerged. She didn’t want to look at it but like a shipwreck, she couldn’t peel her eyes away.
There were algae-coated leviathans everywhere. They flailed about and attacked each other as they climbed up the beach.This has to be it.It had to be. The attack on the colony and its pier were nothing compared to the surge of water-beasts pummeling the giant pipes that spewed waste into the ocean.
She counted at least a dozen pipes that extended from the factory, although most were crushed and destroyed. There could’ve been more, but Rylie wasn’t sure. Her stomach cramped up. A siren rang from the roof of the structure. It was loud enough to penetrate her pod and blare in her ears.
She drove the vessel onto land a little ways away, following the cues of the Cyborgs. The water continuously grew thicker until she swore it was no longer water, but brown goop, bordering on paste. Her worry amplified for those who may still be trapped out on the ocean, and for the ocean itself.
This was her planet and it was being harmed—her livelihood was being harmed, people had died, were dying, and others were missing. It made her heart ache; it made her angry.
